M&S megastore plans leap major planning hurdle

Ambitious plans to build a sizeable food store at Norcross have been been approved but planners have stipulated the application was not specific to M&S.

- by Richard Hunt

The plans were lodged with Wyre planners back in January and agents for the store chain said it was aimed at building a new 'first class' M&S store off Norcross Lane, offering '6,600 product lines'.

The application itself was for the building of a new retail food store, together with associated car parking, servicing areas and landscaping, including the provision of an electricity substation, and alterations to the highway.

Planners say theoretically, at this stage, the store could be built and opened by any company if circumstances were to change.

The sizable new store would have a net sales area of 1,465 sq.m and 145 parking spaces.

Nine months after first being submitted, the application finally came before Wyre's latest planning committee meeting, at the requrst of Coun Michael Vincent.